Mackey's 'Stumble to Grace'
Composers Datebook · Sep 23, 2026 · 2:00
Composers Datebook · Sep 23, 2026 · 2:00
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On today’s date in 2011, the Saint Louis Symphony under David Robertson premiered a new piano concerto by American composer Steven Mackey. The soloist was Orli Shaham, Robertson’s wife, to whom the new work was dedicated.
The new concerto had an odd title: Stumble to Grace, which Mackey explained:
“There is a narrative running through the piece … the piano is all thumbs … as it stumbles in its first entrance, playing naïve and awkward plinks and plunks. By [the end], the piano plays sophisticated, virtuosic and, at times, graceful contrapuntal music — a fugue, in fact … the inspiration … came from observing my now two-and-a-half year old toddler learning to become human … I wanted to open my compositional process to incorporate some of the whimsy and exuberance that he brings to his exploration of the world. A preoccupation with one’s children is common among most new parents but this seemed particularly appropriate … for a piece written for Orli Shaham. She and her conductor husband, David Robertson, have twins less than a year older than my son and we’ve had play dates and shared narrations about new parenthood.”
Stephen Mackey (b. 1956): Stumble to Grace; Orli Shaham, piano; Los Angeles Philharmonic; David Robertson, conductor; Canary Classics CC-11
